Overcoming the Fear of Failure

Fear in its general form can be very destructive. It can even make you lose your self-confident. Fear of failure is something people deal with. This kind of fear can keep you from improving and developing. Most of us have experienced the fear of failure in many different situations. But where does it come from? And how can we overcome it?

One of main reasons that cause the fear of failure is lack of self-confidence and also not believing in your own abilities. Fear of failure can be overcome and you should accept that. So here we are going to talk about some ways to get rid of the fear.

Fear of failure is one of the greatest fears people have. Fear of failure is closely related to fear of criticism and fear of rejection. Successful people overcome their fear of failure. So if you want to get rid of your fear it is good to admit it. Whenever we want to solve a problem we should look for it and find it, then take actions toward solving it. Admitting that one has a fear is a major step in overcoming the fear. Admitting the fear can be the hardest step for some people. Once you have understood that you fear something, you’ll find it much easier to look for solutions. If you feel that you can’t overcome your fear alone, then it would be no harm if you seek professional help. This can be talking to a psychologist, a psychiatrist or a counselor.

Changing your way of thinking and turning it to a positive one can be very helpful in overcoming any type of fear including fear of failure.

You should also try to find and discover your own abilities and talents. This will cause more self-confidence which will lead to getting rid of fear. In most cases our fear prevents us from starting new things and it keeps us from struggling. But in most cases these fears are not real and they are just false imaginations. You just need to take some small steps and then you will see that you used to fear without any reason.

Day one: Write a list of your past lost opportunities

What may get inspiration for your further actions, is to bring in a list of your past opportunities that you lost just because of the fear of failure. Get a notepad and write down as many lost opportunities as you remember. Create a single column for the first one and try to imagine in details what was the picture that has been drawn by your fear of the failure. Describe it at the best possible state. Now move on and complete the column for all those burned opportunities.

Day Two: Get the actual picture of what has happened

You have already drawn the awful picture that the fear of failure had prevented you from taking action. We have to find out was that picture real or was it just another destructive imagination. So create the third column with the sole purpose of dedicating it to the real, actual and accurate pictures. Pictures that illustrate the real outcome of the lost opportunities. Like the second column you need to note details too. Upon completing these two sections you will have two images of each scenarios, one because of your fear of failure, the other is the exact result of that lost opportunity.

Day Three: Compare them and find the reason for your fear

To overcome the fear of failure you have to find out the exact difference of both pictures. Let's say you haven't applied for a new job because of the fear of possible rejection and outside world judgments about your true abilities. However the truth is that upon rejection there hasn't been any real criticism. You got what I'm talking about, compare the second and third column and find those critical differences between your destructive imaginaries and the real world. Write them on the fourth column. We will come back to these differences and will find a way to beat the fear of failure forever.